PHCN Not Responsible For Power Outage At Abuja Airport – Minister

The Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, has said that the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) was not responsible for the power outage which occurred on Thursday morning at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

This was contained in a statement which the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Mr Ogbuagu Anikwe, made available to the media in Lagos, recently.

The Tide gathered that the power outage occurred when a British Airways plane from London was about to touch down.

The statement said that the minister’s investigation indicated that the outage was not caused directly or indirectly by the Abuja Electric Power Distribution Company.

It also said that the outage was not caused by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) or the PHCN.

“There was electricity supply from the PHCN system when this incident occurred; the PHCN, indeed, has two supply lines dedicated to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

“There is a standing ministerial instruction that the airport should be supplied with electricity at all times, once power is available in the Federal Capital Territory,’’ the statement said.

It said the investigation showed that the incident arose from the failure or inability of the airport’s generators to produce power when the British Airways plane was about to touch down.

“It is the standard practice for international air carriers to rely on power from the airport’s generators whenever they are landing.

“The airlines rely on this source of power, even when the public power supply is available, and this was the case this morning in Abuja,” the statement said.

It said that the minister had discussed with his counterpart in the Aviation ministry, how international airlines and the airport authorities could make use of electricity supply from the PHCN.

According to the statement, the PHCN has dedicated lines to all the airports to ensure constant power supply and the enhancement of safety and security at the nation’s airports.

It added: “The minister thanks all Nigerians for their understanding and cooperation as far-reaching measures are being taking to make quality and constant power available to our people.’’